[Event "GCT Rapid Paris 2021"] [Site "Paris FRA"] [Date "2021.06.19"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Bacrot, Etienne"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2678"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "136"] [EventDate "2021.06.18"] [EventType "rapid"] 1. b3 Nf6 2. Bb2 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. c4 d6 6. e3 Nc6 7. Ne2 e5 8. Nbc3 Be6 9. O-O Qd7 10. Nd5 Bh3 11. Bxh3 Qxh3 12. Nxf6+ Bxf6 13. f4 Bg7 14. f5 gxf5 15. Nc3 Ne7 16. Nd5 Nxd5 17. cxd5 Rac8 18. Rc1 Qg4 19. Rc4 Qxd1 20. Rxd1 c5 21. Rf1 b5 22. Rh4 c4 23. b4 f4 24. gxf4 f5 25. Rh5 Rcd8 26. Bc3 Rd7 27. fxe5 dxe5 28. Rfxf5 Rxf5 29. Rxf5 Rxd5 30. Kf2 Rd3 31. Ke2 a6 32. Kd1 h6 33. Rf2 Rd7 34. Rf1 Kh7 35. Kc2 Kg6 36. a4 Bf6 37. axb5 axb5 38. Ra1 Rd6 39. Ra5 Rb6 40. Kd1 Kf5 41. Ke2 Kg4 42. Ra8 Kh3 43. Kf3 Kxh2 44. Rg8 h5 45. Rg6 Rd6 46. Ke4 Kh3 47. Kf5 Be7 48. Rg7 Bf8 49. Rg8 Bh6 50. Kxe5 Rd3 51. Ke4 Bxe3 52. dxe3 Rxc3 53. Rg5 h4 54. Rxb5 Rc1 55. Rg5 Kh2 56. Kd4 h3 57. b5 c3 58. b6 Rb1 59. Kxc3 Rxb6 { As this position would be drawn even without White's e-pawn it's amazing at one level that he loses it. But at another, it's not - anything is possible in what is a glorified blitz game.} 60. Kd4 ({Here's how to draw without the e-pawn:} 60. Kd2 Rb2+ 61. Ke1 Rg2 62. Rf5 $1 (62. Rh5 $2 Kg3 63. Kf1 Rf2+ 64. Ke1 h2 $19) 62... Kg1 (62... Kg3 63. Kf1 $1 h2 64. Rg5+ $1 Kf3 65. Rf5+ $1 Kg3 66. Rg5+ $1 Kh3 67. Rh5+ $1 $11) 63. Rf3 $5 {Please, Monsieur Bacrot, push the h-pawn!} (63. Rf1+ {also draws.}) 63... Kh2 (63... h2 $4 64. Rf1#) 64. Kf1 $11) 60... Rb4+ 61. Kd3 Rb2 62. Ke4 Rg2 63. Rh5 Kg3 64. Ke5 $2 $19 {Losing, surprisingly enough.} (64. Rh8 h2 65. Rg8+ Kf2 66. Rh8 Kg1 {and only now} 67. Ke5 {can be played, as Black's king is too far away for him to win.} h1=Q 68. Rxh1+ Kxh1 69. e4 $1 Kh2 70. Kd6 Rd2+ 71. Ke6 $1 Kg3 72. e5 $1 Kf4 73. Kf6 $1 $11) 64... Ra2 $1 {A nice move, gaining a critical tempo thanks to the threat of ...Ra5+.} (64... Rb2) ({and} 64... Rc2 {also win, for the same reason.}) 65. Rh8 Ra5+ $1 {The only winning move.} 66. Kf6 Ra4 $1 67. Kf5 Rh4 68. Rg8+ Kf2 { A fine ending by Bacrot, even if MVL should have held it.} 0-1 [Event "GCT Rapid Paris 2021"] [Site "Paris FRA"] [Date "2021.06.19"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B42"] [WhiteElo "2820"] [BlackElo "2714"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2021.06.18"] [EventType "rapid"] {[%evp 0,85,19,38,40,41,41,32,28,27,81,43,45,45,47,54,38,28,39,25,57,43,42,20, 43,43,40,33,33,26,26,40,25,12,9,-24,-23,-26,21,23,47,34,23,-8,31,29,31,36,50, 22,19,18,28,28,24,7,15,-32,-28,-30,-29,-37,-42,-41,-23,-10,0,0,0,-27,-24,-10,0, -10,202,194,178,230,230,214,270,294,296,282,345,349,29987,29988]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. Qg4 g6 8. Qe2 d6 9. Be3 Nd7 10. N1d2 Ngf6 11. Bh6 Ne5 12. O-O Neg4 13. Bg7 Rg8 14. Bxf6 Nxf6 15. f4 e5 16. fxe5 dxe5 17. Nc4 Be6 18. Kh1 Qc7 19. Ne3 Kf8 20. c4 Kg7 21. Nd2 Rge8 22. Nd5 Bxd5 23. cxd5 Rac8 24. a4 Rf8 25. a5 Ne8 26. Nc4 Bc5 27. Qg4 Bd4 28. Ra2 Nd6 29. b3 Qe7 30. h4 h5 31. Qh3 Rc7 32. g4 hxg4 33. Qxg4 Rh8 34. Rh2 Rh5 35. Rh3 Qd7 36. Qg2 Rc8 $2 (36... Nxc4 37. Bxc4 b6 $11) 37. Be2 $18 Rch8 $2 (37... Rxc4 38. bxc4 Rh6 {isn't exactly good for Black, but it's much better for him than the game.}) 38. Bxh5 Rxh5 39. Nxd6 Qxd6 40. Qg4 Qd8 41. Kg2 Rh7 42. h5 Qxa5 43. Rxf7+ $1 {A nice final touch.} 1-0 [Event "GCT Rapid Paris 2021"] [Site "Paris FRA"] [Date "2021.06.19"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A13"] [WhiteElo "2792"] [BlackElo "2781"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2021.06.18"] [EventType "rapid"] {[%evp 0,75,21,-10,-9,0,-3,-24,-11,-21,-4,-19,-2,-2,23,-11,46,5,27,15,2,2,7,-6, 28,3,16,13,29,15,10,38,31,47,43,16,24,3,64,36,43,45,42,51,46,35,65,68,91,96,85, 83,76,123,100,63,68,109,97,136,272,291,300,313,306,316,320,320,363,377,402,395, 412,405,409,421,654,666]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qxc4 c5 7. Ne5 Qc8 8. b3 Nc6 9. Nxd7 Qxd7 10. Bb2 Be7 11. O-O Rc8 12. Rd1 O-O 13. Nc3 a6 14. Rac1 b5 15. Qf4 h6 16. d3 Rfd8 17. Qd2 Qa7 18. e3 Qb6 19. Qe2 Nb4 20. a3 Nbd5 21. Nxd5 Nxd5 22. d4 Nf6 23. dxc5 Rxd1+ 24. Rxd1 Bxc5 25. Bxf6 gxf6 26. Qh5 {Setting up a very nice tactical idea.} Bxa3 $2 {Why not? You, like Aronian, will soon see.} (26... Be7 27. Qxh6 Rd8 $44 {was tenable, offering Black just about sufficient compensation for the pawn.}) 27. Rd7 Rf8 28. Be4 $1 (28. Qxh6 $2 Rd8 $1 $11) 28... f5 {And now?} 29. Qxh6 $1 { Threatening Bxf5.} fxe4 {And now, the last tactical point:} 30. Rd5 $1 { A second pin trick! Black must give up the queen to avoid mate.} Qxe3 (30... f5 31. Rd7 Rf7 32. Qg6+ {mates.}) 31. Qxe3 exd5 32. Qg5+ Kh8 33. Qxd5 f5 34. Qd4+ Kg8 35. b4 Bc1 36. Qb6 Rf7 37. Qxa6 e3 38. Qc8+ 1-0 [Event "GCT Rapid Paris 2021"] [Site "Paris FRA"] [Date "2021.06.19"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2021.06.18"] [EventType "rapid"] {[%evp 0,51,21,36,41,50,25,43,25,13,-5,-5,0,-18,-18,-57,2,-32,-15,-82,10,-106, -68,-68,-107,-142,-81,-168,-113,-159,-63,-82,-99,-95,-94,-177,-160,-176,-195, -155,-135,-240,-173,-185,-169,-169,-191,-199,-142,-176,324,379,571,894]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. Be2 Nge7 7. h4 f6 8. h5 Qb6 9. g4 Ng8 10. Na3 cxd4 11. cxd4 fxe5 12. dxe5 Bc5 13. Nb5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Bxb5 15. O-O Nf6 16. Bxb5+ Qxb5 17. g5 Ne4 18. Qg4 Qb6 19. g6 O-O-O 20. Bf4 hxg6 21. Rac1 gxh5 22. Qg6 Rhf8 23. Bh2 Rf6 24. Qxg7 {Black was better much of the way, and even now it's still equal in this scary-looking position - scary-looking for both sides.} Rxf2 $4 {A blunder, but in a short rapid game it's very possible to miss the problem.} (24... Nxf2 $1 25. Kg2 $1 Ne4 $8 26. Nd3 $8 Rxf1 27. Kxf1 Nd2+ 28. Kg2 Nc4 29. b3 {Up to here everything has been forced, but now Black has some options.} Bd4 30. Qf7 Qc6 31. Qf3 Bb6 32. bxc4 dxc4 33. Qxc6+ bxc6 34. Ne5 Rd2+ 35. Kh3 Rxa2 $11 {is one possible continuation. The position is "officially" equal, and probably practically equal as well, though I would put more stock in White's extra piece than Black's scattered pawns.}) 25. Rxf2 Nxf2 26. Nd7 $3 (26. Kg2 {also gives White a possibly winning advantage, but the text is far more convincing.}) (26. Nd7 $3 Rxd7 (26... Ne4+ 27. Rxc5+ $18) 27. Qf8+ Rd8 28. Rxc5+ Kd7 29. Qf7# {demonstrates the sorts of problems facing Black.}) 1-0